Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead
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- Create Date：2021-05-17 07:51:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- ISBN：0451529553
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Summary
A collection of powerful stories by one of the masters of Russian literature， illustrating the author's thoughts on political philosophy， religion and above all， humanity: Notes from Underground， White Nights， The Dream of a Ridiculous Man， and Selections from The House of the Dead （150th Anniversary Edition）
The compelling works presented in this volume were written at distinct periods in Dostoyevsky's life， at decisive moments in his groping for a political philosophy and a religious answer。 From the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying life to the anxious antihero of Notes from Underground—who both craves and despises affection—the writer's often-tormented characters showcase his evolving outlook on our fate。
Thomas Mann described Dostoyevsky as "an author whose Christian sympathy is ordinarily devoted to human misery， sin， vice， the depths of lust and crime， rather than to nobility of body and soul" and Notes from Underground as "an awe- and terror- inspiring example of this sympathy。"
The compelling works presented in this volume were written at distinct periods in Dostoyevsky's life， at decisive moments in his groping for a political philosophy and a religious answer。 From the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying life to the anxious antihero of Notes from Underground—who both craves and despises affection—the writer's often-tormented characters showcase his evolving outlook on our fate。
Thomas Mann described Dostoyevsky as "an author whose Christian sympathy is ordinarily devoted to human misery， sin， vice， the depths of lust and crime， rather than to nobility of body and soul" and Notes from Underground as "an awe- and terror- inspiring example of this sympathy。"
Reviews
Sewer Rat
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There’s only ever been a few books in my life that have made me grin like this one。 Not that this was the kind of book that was so full of happiness it overflowed onto my own face， but because of how well written and how thickly it resonated with me。 There were some lines that， upon reading them， I felt a grin crack up onto my face and I found myself rereading the whole paragraph again and soon enough the whole book。 I’m glad to say that I’ve recommended this to every poor friend of mine。
Vugar
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Profound， exhaustive， quality and hard-to-read-at-one-sitting。
EJ
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White nights， the ramblings of a young man in a town by the sea。 He happens to meet a women along one of his many walks。 distraught he comforts her and learns of her promise of marriage to a stranger she hopes will get her out of the town。 Will this stranger return for her？？？？
Fatima Ezzahra
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Not a big fan of the book。 In fact I couldn't read more than the first 10 pages， it is too depressing and full of negativity， in my opinion。 I felt a little bit disappointed seeing the good rating the book got。 I think I will give it another shot later！ I'd like to note that I've read the Arabic translation， I might try the English one this time。 Not a big fan of the book。 In fact I couldn't read more than the first 10 pages， it is too depressing and full of negativity， in my opinion。 I felt a little bit disappointed seeing the good rating the book got。 I think I will give it another shot later！ I'd like to note that I've read the Arabic translation， I might try the English one this time。 。。。more
Sean
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A great collection of Dostoyevsky's short stories - you get both the early and late-era works。 For any reader who may be intimidated by Dostoyevsky - these stories are accessible and thoughtful with characters that seem to fit well into our world today。 A great collection of Dostoyevsky's short stories - you get both the early and late-era works。 For any reader who may be intimidated by Dostoyevsky - these stories are accessible and thoughtful with characters that seem to fit well into our world today。 。。。more
Emily
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Here’s my synopsis of each part:White Nights-guy meets girl on the street late at night。 Falls hard for her。 Gets friend-zoned。House of the Dead-Baklushkin’s Story-man kills his lover’s suitor in jealous rage （or possibly over shitty vodka）。Akulka’s Husband-spoiler alert: he’s a no-good drunken wife-beater。In the Hospital-a lesson on floggingNotes from Underground-Part 1-an old man’s crazy rantings Part 2-in which the crazy old man recounts how he spent his younger days dirt-poor， but still mana Here’s my synopsis of each part:White Nights-guy meets girl on the street late at night。 Falls hard for her。 Gets friend-zoned。House of the Dead-Baklushkin’s Story-man kills his lover’s suitor in jealous rage （or possibly over shitty vodka）。Akulka’s Husband-spoiler alert: he’s a no-good drunken wife-beater。In the Hospital-a lesson on floggingNotes from Underground-Part 1-an old man’s crazy rantings Part 2-in which the crazy old man recounts how he spent his younger days dirt-poor， but still managed to go a-drinking and a-whoringDream of a Ridiculous Man- it’s pretty self-explanatory 。。。more
☕
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 ON NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND: Notes from Underground is a relatively short but substantial novel depicting the ramblings of an unnamed man who has decided to isolate himself from society。 It is separated into two parts: his current state and philosophies in life， and a glimpse into his past。 My thoughts on this book are， quite honestly， all over the place。 Notes from Underground took me a long time to read because of both the heaviness of the content as well as the long hiatus I took in between re ON NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND: Notes from Underground is a relatively short but substantial novel depicting the ramblings of an unnamed man who has decided to isolate himself from society。 It is separated into two parts: his current state and philosophies in life， and a glimpse into his past。 My thoughts on this book are， quite honestly， all over the place。 Notes from Underground took me a long time to read because of both the heaviness of the content as well as the long hiatus I took in between reads。 Because of this， I am sure that I've missed some of the key concepts laid out by Dostoyevsky， but the ones I have understood introduced me to a unique perspective on some of the important aspects of life。 All in all， I found the book interesting， and I plan to read it again in the future。 - After reading this book， I have noticed that Notes from Underground is quite different from the other books Dostoyevsky has written。 For instance， Dostoyevsky would often introduce his philosophies to the readers in the form of intellectual discourse， wherein the listening party would offer opposing perspectives on the topic， making the conversation more substantial。 In Notes from Underground， the Underground Man is the sole character in the story。 The book was written as if Dostoyevsky had taken excerpts from the Man's journal， which is filled only with his unfiltered thoughts， with no one around to add a different opinion。 In line with that， the Underground Man's philosophies on the Natural man vs。 the Intelligent man， and Motivation & Free Will were extremely insightful to me。 On the other hand， the way the Underground Man acted during the flash back into his past initially made me think less of his character， because he seems to contradict himself in many （frustrating） ways。 Up until the end， I am still unsure what to think about the Underground Man and whether he is smart yet eccentric， or arrogant and prideful。 ON THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is shorter and easier to read than Notes from Underground。 In fact， this short story was straightforward， depicting only the life of a depressed man whose dream changed his entire view on life completely。 This story did not contain long paragraphs containing a central philosophy， which is common in Dostoyevsky's novels。 Instead， this book's central philosophy is scattered all throughout the plot， which touched a little bit about the Truth and our life's purpose。ON WHITE NIGHTS: 。。。more
Jeanne （jkcosmos） Cosmos
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Classic。 Thoughtful。 Introspective。
Rida Rizvi
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In the middle of it I thought I couldn't finish it but I'm glad I did。 Powerful begining starting with the ideas of religion， morality， conscience ended with brutal reality check on life and how were are living it with cowardice。 Mid seemed like scribbling yet it had powerful anecdotes on love， guilt， hate and vengeance。 In the middle of it I thought I couldn't finish it but I'm glad I did。 Powerful begining starting with the ideas of religion， morality， conscience ended with brutal reality check on life and how were are living it with cowardice。 Mid seemed like scribbling yet it had powerful anecdotes on love， guilt， hate and vengeance。 。。。more
Hectorpalomares
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An interesting study in human behavior。 Dostoyevsky is a master in portraying the awkward and struggling human soul。
Pranjal Pranta
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If you like the movie Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese， you would love this。 Also， I feel starting with the second part would make the book a more relatable read。
Clarice Clepf
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"Quanto à minha opinião pessoal， penso que amar apenas o bem estar é， de certo modo， até indecente。 Seja isso bom ou não， o fato é que， as vezes， quebrar alguma coisa é também muito agradável。 Não estou propriamente defendendo o sofrimento e nem o bem estar。 Estou defendendo。。。 o meu capricho， e que ele me seja garantido， quando necessário。" LIVRÃO！！ "Quanto à minha opinião pessoal， penso que amar apenas o bem estar é， de certo modo， até indecente。 Seja isso bom ou não， o fato é que， as vezes， quebrar alguma coisa é também muito agradável。 Não estou propriamente defendendo o sofrimento e nem o bem estar。 Estou defendendo。。。 o meu capricho， e que ele me seja garantido， quando necessário。" LIVRÃO！！ 。。。more
Gerardo Alonso
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Who’s to claim they don’t see themselves in the underground man？ The retched thought process of a social failure paints a picture of how we ruin our social interactions， how the social fabric depends on the individual and his/her thoughts。 Dostoyevsky shows us， through prose， how social situations that could have ended positively and thus creating stronger social bonds instead go awfully wrong。 In a broader sense， this book expresses the importance of the individual and shows an example of the b Who’s to claim they don’t see themselves in the underground man？ The retched thought process of a social failure paints a picture of how we ruin our social interactions， how the social fabric depends on the individual and his/her thoughts。 Dostoyevsky shows us， through prose， how social situations that could have ended positively and thus creating stronger social bonds instead go awfully wrong。 In a broader sense， this book expresses the importance of the individual and shows an example of the bound rationality of individuals。The book is centred around a nameless person: the underground man。 He thinks of his life and remembers his past; and in this past， his delusion of self-grandeur and egocentricity。 His failed interactions due to his impulsivity， inaccurate empathy and selfishness。 All these made me recall my own failed interactions; made me cringe and wish I could have a do-over。 The book felt like the antithesis of a Hollywood romantic comedy where there are struggles and then a release， a positive outcome that made it all worth it。 This did not happen to the underground man， instead， the struggles topped one another。 There is an underground man within each of us。 This is the lesson from Dostoyevsky。 He deconstructed our dark side and showed it to us。 Maybe to pity the underground man， perhaps to make fun of him。 But most likely， to reflect and understand ourselves just a bit better。 。。。more
Alex Whigham
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Incredible look at Dostoyevsky’s insights into the human condition。 I liked the way the characters feeling flipped from anger to love， and the guilt motivated them to commit more atrocities。 Also interesting critiques of Utopianism。
Sanjay Subramaniam
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I don't know man。 Where do I even start with a book like this？ I'm just going to ruminate out loud。This book scared the crap out of me， not kidding。 What I can say is that there's a bit of the Underground Man in all of us， and I still can't tell if he's a hero or a villain。 I took a long time to pause and see my shadow selves whenever they came up。Every highlight taught me something。 This was a long-needed lesson in honest self-reflection。 I used to think that anything that's self-critical has t I don't know man。 Where do I even start with a book like this？ I'm just going to ruminate out loud。This book scared the crap out of me， not kidding。 What I can say is that there's a bit of the Underground Man in all of us， and I still can't tell if he's a hero or a villain。 I took a long time to pause and see my shadow selves whenever they came up。Every highlight taught me something。 This was a long-needed lesson in honest self-reflection。 I used to think that anything that's self-critical has to be good。 The other day， @visakanv on Twitter pointed out that self-loathing is a kind of narcissism。 Little did I know that this book was helping me see why that was true。What happens when we take the so-called good things （self-awareness， self-criticism， reading books， etc） to an extreme？The part where our Underground Man loathes Apollon was also interesting to me。 What if Apollon was just a healthy， self-assured adult？ Our hero couldn't stand that， could he？ He had to be special， even if it meant being pathetic。"It is impossible for an intelligent man to become anything， only fools become something。" I'm convinced that the Underground Man was not an intelligent man。 He was obsessed with the idea of appearing intelligent， as he admits， he gives us unfiltered access to his pretentious thinking styles。 If he really was that intelligent， why wouldn't he figure out where to stop probing？ Why wouldn't he see that he's making life harder than it already is？ This quote taught me what pretentious thinking and a desperate need to appear bookish and intelligent can do to an individual。 The intelligent man will find a way to become something， something meaningful， or so I like to think。Was he clinically depressed and manic？ What gave him his convulsions？"To be overly conscious is a sickness。" There's a thin red line between healthy self-consciousness and the kind that our man has。 Reminds me of that David Foster Wallace quote: “There's good self-consciousness， and then there's toxic， paralyzing， raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness。” Maybe what we need is mindfulness， not hyper self-consciousness。 Also， I think it's kind of important to be super conscious of the world around us， instead of ourselves。I don't know man， maybe he just needs to stop taking himself so seriously！Or as one YouTube reviewer， Steve Santerre， pointed out， was the Underground Man better than us？ He says:"As far as I myself am concerned， I have merely carried to an extreme in my life what you have not dared to carry even halfway， and， what's more， you've taken your cowardice for good sense， and found comfort in thus deceiving yourselves。 So that I， perhaps， come out even more "living" than you。"And why can't he love？ Why can't he see his pain and see that others have similar pains？ And when he does see， why does he side with tyranny？"First， I was no longer able to love， because， I repeat， for me to love meant to tyrannize and to preponderize morally。"Here's one for the book-nerd who thinks he can get away with not talking to people and learning from them: "I was so used to thinking and imagining everything from books， and to picturing everything in the world to myself as I had devised it beforehand in my dreams， that at first， I didn't even understand this strange circumstance。 What occured was this: Liza， whom I had insulted and crushed， understood far more than I imagined;。 She understood from it all what a woman， if she loves sincerely， always understands before anything else- namely， that I myself was unhappy。" 。。。more
Maha Althani
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I just finished reading Crime and Punishment and it's the first book I read for Dostoyevsky's。 I fell in love with his writings and I wanted to read more but I could not do a long reading， so I picked the shortest。 Notes from the underground， Dostoyesky’s， Ahhhh where can I start？ 🤷♂️🤷♂️Who is HE？Dostoyevsky was a sad， angry， sick man。 He lived a tough life from gambling addiction to be sentenced to death and later on ends up in prison and years of labor。 He lived with criminals。 He was among I just finished reading Crime and Punishment and it's the first book I read for Dostoyevsky's。 I fell in love with his writings and I wanted to read more but I could not do a long reading， so I picked the shortest。 Notes from the underground， Dostoyesky’s， Ahhhh where can I start？ 🤷♂️🤷♂️Who is HE？Dostoyevsky was a sad， angry， sick man。 He lived a tough life from gambling addiction to be sentenced to death and later on ends up in prison and years of labor。 He lived with criminals。 He was among them， aware of their physical presence and the mental stress。 They fascinated him。 That’s why I think he was able to write what he writes。 life has taught him a very hard lesson。 Notes from Underground is small but influential work。 Madness…I tell you。it can be seen as a- short-life version of Dostoyesky’s。 📍plot: It follows the narration of an incredibly isolated individual with paranoid and hysterical tendencies who is immensely loathsome and miserable。 Deep in his own hole in the underground， he shares notes on what it's like to be alive and isolated and human。 He is spiteful and hateful and an insufferable person。 He is ill that is for sure。 But he has so much to say and everything he says renders truth and oftentimes perplexing and terrifying and heartbreaking。✏️✏️My opinion: Ahhh Incredible！this book is genius， I'm absolutely awestruck and have no perfect words but so many thoughts。 How can one write about all this！ What's the height of his observation， understanding & judgment。I can read it as many times。 the more I read his words again。 The more secrets he reveals。 I love every word of every letter he writes。 I can read this book by his voice。 I love all the quotes。 My favorite is this: “I’m a sick man… a mean man。 There’s nothing attractive about me。 I think there’s something wrong with my liver。’…。。 “It's just heartbreaking。 I Can read this many times！！！！。 I mean this small book has just alot of things！！ I would buy his books even if there is only a title written！The title itself I think describes his life only， underground。 Even the word has a hard meaning。 Yes， Dostoyevsky has been underground， under his emotions and his life。I just love him， I LOVE Dostoyesky’s BY ALL MEAN！！ 。。。more
Matt
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it's through this collection I read the Gambler。 Dream of a Ridiculous Man is heart-breaking。 it's through this collection I read the Gambler。 Dream of a Ridiculous Man is heart-breaking。 。。。more
Frederic
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Ashley
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Forrest
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Colin
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Sarina
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Idella
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Hassan
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Cheyenne
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Arch
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Cristal
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Marcelle
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Candido
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Lucienne
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